The Anniversary

Just a note to our readers that today, June 6, 2005, marks the 10th
anniversary of the creation of International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Most of you have probably heard the story, but you'll forgive me for
repeating it on this hallowed occasion.

On June 6, 1995, my friend Mark and I were at the YMCA playing a little
racquetball to "get back in shape," as if we were ever in shape
in the
first place. During the course of the contest one of us – there's
no
recalling who now – stretched for a shot slightly out of reach and
strained somethin' that was best left unstrained. He let out a mighty
"Aarrr!"

For reasons that you have to be a guy to understand, we immediately
lapsed into pirate patois – "Ye slapped that one of me mizzenmast!"
"Here's a broadside right up yer poopdeck!" and other such witty
and
classy repartee. When the hour was up, we'd realized the game had
passed more quickly and we'd had more fun than ever before. We decided
then and there that the world needed a holiday where every man, woman
and child on this planet would be permitted – No! Encouraged! –
to talk
like pirates.

We also agreed while still on the court that the perfect spokesman for
this new holiday was none other than syndicated humor columnist Dave
Barry. But we didn't do anything about it, because that's the kind of
guys we are.

We recognized almost immediately that we needed a different day for the
holiday. June 6, as any guy can tell you, is the anniversary of World
War II's D-Day, the sort of sacred memorial that can't be besmirched
with something silly (and let's admit, it's silly) like Talk Like a
Pirate Day. I said to Mark, we need a date." He said, "Sept.
19." I
said "Why?" He replied, "Because it's my ex-wife's birthday."
He didn't
mean that in a mean way. It's just that the day was stuck in his head
and he wasn't doing anything with it any more. He'd need to retrain
fewer brain cells.

Well, it remained a private joke between us and a couple of friends
until that fateful day in 2002 when I ran across Dave Barry's e-mail
address. I fired a shot across his bow, he answered, we invited him
aboard. We didn't hear more until a friend who worked at the newspaper
called me. "John," she said, "I'm editing this week's Dave
Barry column
and ... is this you?" It was. Dave had written a column. It ran Sept.
8. And we thought, that's cute, there's our 15 minutes, and the whole
thing would be over by that afternoon. Except it wasn't. People kept
calling and writing, asking for interviews.

And the rest is, if not quite history, at least a nice footnote to
whenever someone gets around to writing the social history of the early
parts of the century. We'll settle for that. It has just grown and
grown until we have pirate personas (I'm Ol' Chumbucket, he's Cap'n
Slappy,) our Web site has taken millions of hits, we've been on CNN,
BBC and in newspapers and magazines around the world, and have sold a
book to a major publisher. "Pirattitude" comes out from New
American
Library Sept. 6 – if we haven't mentioned it yet, you can order
advance
copies through our site, www.talklikeapirate.com.

Thanks for all being part of it. Our only disappointment so far is that
the local YMCA still hasn't put up a brass plaque on court number three
commemorating the event. But you never know, maybe this year is the
year!